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Cape Town has a new acting mayor after Patricia De Lille was stripped of her party membership. Deputy mayor, Ian Neilson, will step in and fill the role as per the terms of the Municipal Structures Act.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Tuesday morning withdrew party membership of Patricia de Lille – meaning she has lost her seat as a councillor and can no longer hold the position of Mayor of Cape Town, with immediate effect.

The City of Cape Town said in a statement, in terms of the Municipal Structures Act, when the post of Executive Mayor is vacant, the Executive Deputy Mayor, who is elected by Council, automatically holds all Mayoral authority until such time as a new Executive Mayor is elected by Council.

Accepting the new role, Neilson said: “As Acting Executive Mayor, I hold all the authority of the Mayoral seat and am committed to continuing to serve the residents of Cape Town with uninterrupted service delivery. Having served as the Executive Deputy Mayor for the past nine years, having been a City councillor for 22 years and having been involved in the leadership of numerous administrations, I am fully apprised of the needs of the City and those we serve.”

The Mayoral Committee, which was appointed by the outgoing Executive Mayor dissolves, with immediate effect, due to the vacancy.

“I will now apply my mind in the coming days to appointing an interim Mayoral Committee that will serve until Council elects a new Executive Mayor,” he said. The City assured residents of Cape Town that the administration is secure and they remain committed to the work to deliver services across the City.

Meanwhile, De Lille has said that kicking her out was a victory for the conservative people in the DA who don’t want to see transformation in the City of Cape Town.

“My integrity and my name are things I worked very hard for over more than 40 years and these are things I value more than anything else. These are values that cannot be bought. Despite this mockery of fairness and justice, I must thank the thousands of supporters from all over the country who have sent so many messages of support over the eight months while I endured this relentless onslaught,” said De Lille on Twitter.